Schools offer lessons on accommodating transgender students

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Many U.S. public schools already are balancing the civil rights of transgender students with any concerns that classmates might have about locker rooms and overnight field trips.

The federal Education Department is drawing on those practices to guide other schools as they work to comply with the Obama administration’s directive that transitioning children be treated consistent with their gender identity.

The Education Department says schools may erect privacy curtains in changing areas, permit all students to make use of single-stall restrooms or work out other case-by-case arrangements as long as they don’t target transgender students for exclusion.